ADDITIONAL LETTERS CONCERNING THE PROPOSED CVS/CHASE DEVELOPMENT

Due to the number of letters to the editor received last
week concerning the proposed CVS/Chase development, we were unable
to fit them all in the newspaper.
Sebastopol City Council will deliberate on the project on
Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. at the Sebastopol Community Center, 390
Morris St., Sebastopol.
– Editor
 
Rude planning commissioner
Editor: The following letter was sent to the
mayor, vice mayor and councilmembers:
Read the (story in Santa Rosa’s daily newspaper) and see what
Clare Najarian said the Supervisor Carillio. What kind of
commissioner for our city should be this rude? How can she be
un-biased?
Martin M. Webb
Sebastopol
 
Sebastopol at the crossroads
Editor: Much as I wish I could vote on the
CVS/Chase project, I don’t envy the members of the Sebastopol City
Council at this moment in time. Their Jan. 23 public forum made
clear that strong feelings flourish on both sides of the debate.
Council members’ votes will surely impact their political futures,
so I anticipate (and dread) expediency all the way around.
The CVS/Chase project is, indeed, the perfect short-term fix to
an abandoned and neglected eyesore in the heart of Sebastopol. And
big corporations have the big bucks to come in and transform such
sites to their liking, temporarily stimulating the local economy
with construction activity. But just as the project site sits at
the crossroads of our town, so does it represent a crossroads in
the future of this community.
The New York Times Travel Magazine’s recent article on
Sebastopol clearly articulated the lure of this town to tourists –
quaint, non-traditional, artsy. If tourism matters to the local
economy, we would do well to foster those traits and discourage the
opposite – big, conventional, mundane. City staff and city leaders
can’t continue supporting exceptions to Sebastopol’s image and
expect that image to survive. We are, quite literally, building our
future. Wouldn’t it make sense to build it intentionally?
Bill Roby
Sebastopol
 
A pitch for progress
Editor: We’re all pretty familiar now with the
arguments for and against the acceptance of the CVS/Chase
development proposed for the old Pellini site on Sebastopol Avenue.
I saw the presentation about the proposed plan when I went to a
recent Design Review Board Meeting. What I came away with was a
concept I was surprised hasn’t surfaced in Sebastopol, which is
well known for it’s progressive vision, a Complete Streets
Development approach.
One presumed “plus ” about the proposed plan is that it would
provide more downtown parking as well as drive-thru windows. But
what keeps being said is that the idea of adding more cars to a
traffic intersection already suffering from clogged arteries makes
no sense. I know many locals who already defer from crossing Main
Street in a car. If you were pressed to get quickly by car to Palm
Drive Hospital’s Emergency Room on an average day you’d have a hard
time doing that unless you were in an ambulance with a siren.
This project wasn’t designed to take this into account. It was
designed perhaps for a suburban style shopping mall, which is where
CVS is now. But in a traffic-dense urban site it is not smart or
even feasible, which is what the Design Review Board effectively
decided.
This is a time when cities all over the country are addressing
this kind of dilemma with a green-oriented vision that looks to
making towns like ours more livable rather than more hellish. The
National Complete the Streets Coalition encourages towns and cities
to design roadways with all users in mind (i.e. bikes, buses,
pedestrians). Any development that happens on this corner could and
should contribute to this “people centered” model. That could mean
providing parking outside the current hub and making the site
ultimately more accessible without more traffic jams. We have an
underused shuttle bus system now that could be taken into
account.
Any wealthy investor that claims to want to work with our town
should be willing to invest in a win-win solution that doesn’t
blight us with a plan that is sorely outdated but gifts us with one
that looks to the future. And Sebastopol, at this critical moment
has a golden opportunity to live up to our motto: “Local flavor.
Global vision.”
Michele Linfante
Sebastopol
 
CVS/Chase concerns
Editor: I recognize that the Pellini family has
economic rights to sell their property for millions of dollars. But
it is the job of government to balance individual rights with
community rights. Like a majority of Sebastopolians, I feel a big
box store at our crossroads would be inappropriate. Moreover, I am
deeply concerned about the effect of the carbon monoxide increase
from hundreds more cars idling on Bodega Highway west of the
crossing, and the impact this pollution will have on the adjoining
downtown streets.
I am equally concerned about the unethical actions Councilmember
Kathleen Shaffer took by organizing and agitating members of our
community “under the radar” (her words) to turn out in support of
CVS. Ms. Shaffer took similar actions in organizing opposition to
any leaf blower restrictions earlier in the year. Despite appeals
by dozens of seniors at Burbank homes and dozens of residents of
Petaluma homes for a compromise that would limit blowers on the
walkways and parking areas of multi-unit homes and large commercial
properties, Ms. Shaffer insisted that any form of regulation would
be “bad for business.”
If Ms. Shaffer insists on acting as a lobbyist for her wealthy
friends (large real estate owners and managers) she ought to do so
after she leaves office. Given her anti-environmentalist,
anti-public health positions, I hope this comes after – and not
before – we replace her in the next election.
Jonathan Greenberg
Sebastopol
 
Deny the appeal
Editor: There is no problem with development.
No one wants to hurt small business and everyone wants to create
jobs and boost local tax revenue. Private property rights are
important and must be protected. The problem with the proposed
CVS/Chase project is that it is something that will affect the
whole community, for the worse, in a number of ways. This is not an
issue of whether Sebastopol has overregulated small business, or
whether or not the Pellini family should be allowed to sell their
land. The land should be developed and put to use, and small
business should be allowed to flourish.
The development of the Pellini Chevrolet property by CVS/Chase
must be stopped by the council. It must be stopped because it will
harm the entire community, it will harm and irreparably change
Western Sonoma County. It will cause severe traffic problems to one
of the worst intersections in town, set at the crossroads of two
highways. Traffic in Sebastopol is already an increasingly
problematic issue with many drivers using side streets to avoid
backed-up intersections. This creates hazards for pedestrians,
while idling cars add to air pollution and lower the quality of our
air. If the proposed CVS and Chase buildings are built they will
attract cars to the worst intersection in town, slowing traffic and
impeding travel. The Pellini Chevrolet property should be developed
in a way that will support and add to the down town of Sebastopol.
Whatever kind of business that is put there should not be one that
is based on a high volume of customers driving in and out.
I urge the city council to deny the appeal filed on behalf of
CVS and Chase bank. They have been provided ample tools to do so by
the design review board and the planning commission. The council
must take this action on behalf of the community and their
constituents. CVS and Chase are two of the worst corporations in
America. Chase was instrumental in the 2008 financial collapse, and
CVS is the largest pill distributer in the U.S. Both corporations
have great locations in our town already, located on the edge of
town, as big box stores traditionally are, to mitigate traffic
problems.
Apart from the many traffic related concerns, there are other
serious ways that this project will harm Sebastopol. First, moving
the stores downtown will create blight at the Gravenstein Highway
shopping center. We will have two vacancies in that shopping center
and the other businesses will suffer for it. Jobs and long term tax
gain to the city will not happen because the proposed CVS is
actually smaller and will employ fewer people. The downtown area
businesses will suffer due to competition against CVS. The Rite Aid
and Safeway pharmacies will also lose business. This project is not
good for the citizens, or small business, of Sebastopol. It is only
good for CVS, Chase, and Armstrong development.
This project is nothing more than the worst bankster, and the
biggest drug dealer in the country, attempting to muscle in on the
most profitable corner in our town, so that they can efficiently
extract money from our community. If the Sebastopol City Council
does not deny this appeal, it will be typical of the lack of
representation that this country faces. It has become commonplace
for elected officials to work for corporate, moneyed interests,
instead of their constituents. I thought it was sad that city
councilmember Kathleen Shaffer acted as a lobbyist and community
organizer for CVS/Chase, sending out a mass email stating that she
was “working under the radar” to build support for the project.
This was a possible Brown Act violation, and regardless, one would
not want a congressman on the armed services committee to be a
lobbyist for Halliburton, or a judge in a Wal-Mart class action
lawsuit, to be under the employ of that company. This is a perfect
example of a conflict of interest, and whether or not she has
violated the Brown Act, if Kathleen Shaffer is an honest official
who represents her constituents, she will recuse herself from the
Feb. 7 vote. I ask those in the community who feel this way to
contact Shaffer and the city and make your opinion known.
Occupy Sebastopol will hold a protest and demonstration on
Saturday, Feb. 4 in opposition to the CVS/Chase project. We will
meet in the town plaza at noon to mass and make signs. Those
willing will then march to Chase bank and CVS where they will meet
those incapable of walking the long distance. OS calls on the
community to come join us for an afternoon of protest. Now is the
time to act. Stand up to corporate power.
Tim Ryan
Member, Occupy Sebastopol